The 2014 MBSLA season continues a recent trend of exodus from the club league to the MSHSL. Top teams like Shakopee and MontiQuois have bolted from the MBSLA along with up and coming teams like Providence Academy and Northfield (the latter two having only played two MBSLA seasons before moving on). Henry-Sibley also disbanded their varsity team in favor of a JV only team. The addition of a Stillwater club team and New Century-Hutchinson leaves us with only 18 teams competing for the 2014 MBSLA championship.
In 2014, I see four very good teams standing out above all others: 2013 MBSLA State Champion Hudson, St. Louis Park, Duluth and St. Paul. Becker is right there as well. After that there are some good teams, but probably not at the "compete for a state title" caliber. The top four, I believe, all have a shot to win the 2014 title and would likely be fairly strong teams were they competing in the MSHSL. Of the four, Hudson probably lost the most scoring firepower, but will still be strong and have a lot of talent coming up. St. Louis Park, Duluth and St. Paul all return much of their scoring punch and will be tough teams to beat. One team I see making a big breakthrough in 2014 is Proctor. They have a big and dynamic attack player to pair with a couple of strong middies. If their goalie can return from injury in 2014, they will surprise a lot of people. Grand Rapids will be strong again in 2014 and return several starters, but did lose a few key contributors to graduation as well. Red River Valley (formerly Fargo) may take a small step backward after losing one of the top offensive players in the state to graduation, but should remain in the Top 10. St. Cloud North should be a Top 10 team once again and I see teams like Brainerd, Waconia, and STMA seeing improvement in 2014. Grand Cities could take a small step back after graduating some good seniors but could be there as well and we're unsure where the Stillwater Club team will shake out. Shattuck-St. Mary's will be really good as always, but they play few games and can't qualify for the playoffs.
Looking forward to the start of the 2014 season and we'll be back in late March with our official MBSLA pre-season Top 10 rankings. Stay tuned!
